As a business owner, it’s one thing adopting sustainable energy practices in the workplace but another thing entirely is getting employees to buy into it…but there is a way!

According to a poll taken in a recent meeting between telecoms giant BT and delegates from the sports industry plus sustainability experts from around the world, more than half (55 per cent) of those present agreed that sports fans and team mates are the best way to influence others to take action on climate change.

If businesses can turn their resident sports fan into a sustainability champion, they’ll be on their way to meeting target reductions, savings on costs and achieving sustainability goals.

In an effort to encourage sports fans to ‘fight the good fight’, BT has teamed up with Olympic and America’s Cup sailor Sir Ben Ainslie to launch “100% Sport” – a global campaign aimed at inspiring sports fans around the world to take action to tackle climate change and reduce carbon emissions by using renewable energy.

This initiative offers a platform for individual sports fans, athletes like Sir Ben Ainslie, sports teams and clubs as well as partners, to speak out on a global scale in support of renewable energy – making it the new ‘norm’. Ainslie’s team, as an example, is now pioneering fuel-efficient boats made from recyclable composites, working with sustainability partner 11th Hour Racing. Its new team base is also powered through only solar and renewable energy sources.

Is there a sailing fan occupying a cubicle in your office? Someone who could be your company’s sustainability champion? You may never even know it, which is why Steve Malkin from GreenWise business has put together a five step programme that will help you to engage the sports fan in your business:

• Take a survey – surveying your staff is great first step to unlocking the talent within your organisation to make change happen. Planet First’s ‘Sustainability Engagement Survey’ can help you find the ‘positive greens’ within your organisation. But remember to also ask them what sport team they follow and what their favourite sport is.
• Make a pledge – sport is a great activity around which to launch a pledging campaign for a sustainable initiative. Do Nation, a Planet First partner, offers an online pledging app to enable individuals or organisations to do this.
• Work in the community – explore how you and your staff could lend a hand to do something positive for your local sports club. Local councils demand that sports clubs get involved in their local communities, so they’ll probably bite your hand off if you get in touch and offer your services,
• Reward positive action – make it worthwhile for those sports fans in your organisation who want to do something positive. In return for taking action on climate change, reward them with a ticket to see their favourite team play, for example.
• Get in touch – with a sustainability engagement specialist who will help you make your engagement programme really take off.

Ben Ainslie says of the initiative; “I believe sport can extend far beyond the race course, the pitch or the court. We have a unique opportunity to harness the power of fans around the world. Because when we come together, we can have a huge impact.”

Rallying support for renewable energy in your company could not only change the way you do business (for the better) but it’s also one step closer to changing the world!

For more information on the “100% Sport” campaign, visit the BT Website and for more detail on how to get sports fans in your business involved, read “5 ways to turn the sport fan in your workplace into a sustainability champion” at blog.greenwisebusiness.co.uk.

If you’d like further information, feel free to contact the CH Systems team on 0208 302 8149 or info@chsystems.cc.